wfn.org | APCE Honors its Own During Celebration

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

10-February-1997 
97071 
 
                    APCE Honors its Own During 
              Celebration of Service and Achievement 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
SAN DIEGO, Calif.--Some special members of the Association of Presbyterian 
Church Educators (APCE) have new feathers in their respective professional 
caps since they were honored by APCE here Feb. 6 during a celebration of 
service and achievement at the world-famous San Diego Zoo. 
 
     Honored as this year's APCE Educator of the Year was Rodger Nishioka, 
recently appointed as coordinator of youth and young adult ministries in 
the Congregational Ministries Division and a full-time student at McCormick 
Theological Seminary in Chicago. 
 
     "I am truly grateful to you and grateful to God for God's hand shown 
to me in life though love and kindness," Nishioka told his audience of 
several hundred Christian educators gathered in Wedgeforth Brown 
Amphitheatre.  "Friends, it has been an amazing journey through these 
years, and if there's anything at the old age of 36 I know, it's that this 
award reminds me that you and I, whenever we do things, we do things 
together." 
 
     Nishioka, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in religious education and hopes 
to serve in a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminary as a professor of 
Christian education, challenged Christian educators to remain at the 
forefront of the denomination's leadership pool. 
 
     "We are the educators of Christ's church and we run together," 
Nishioka said. "When our denominations are in struggle and in conflict, our 
message to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.), the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the Reformed Church in 
America [partner denominations in APCE] is  Come on, wake up, people.' We 
are the educators of Christ's church, and like it or not, we are all 
running together." 
 
     Selected as recipients of the 1997 APCE Life Achievement Award were 
Betty Cromwell of Whittier, Calif.; Martha Holman of Atlantic Beach, Fla.; 
and Nancy Darter of Chapel Hill, N.C. This year's Val Murphy Scholarship 
recipients were Marianne Bridgeman of San Anselmo, Calif., and Rebecca 
D'Angelo of Youngstown, N.Y. 
 
     Educators certified since the 1996 APCE event were Roberta Arrowsmith 
of Newton, Pa.; Jean Davidson of Nashville, Tenn.; Kathy Dawson of Mobile, 
Ala.; Gladys Dillard of Fort Wood, Mo.; David Endriss of Hatlock, Minn.; 
Marilyn Johns of Germantown, Md.; Melinda Kerry of Corning, N.Y.; Dana 
Marzolf of Belle Vernon, Pa.; Libby Schroeder of Shelby, N.C.; and Michael 
Waschevski of Bedford, Texas. 
 
     Featured speaker the Rev. Doug Adams, professor of Christianity and 
the arts at Pacific School of Religion and member of the doctoral faculty 
of Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif., revealed many examples of 
humor in Jesus' parables and miracles and demonstrated several methods for 
bringing that humor to life. 
 
     A noted lecturer and author, Adams said, "Like grandparent stories, 
these Jesus stories tell us more of the truth of life with many rough 
edges, including unethical or ambiguous characters and surprising 
incomplete endings, and so we laugh with hope to live through the rough 
times in our lives.  Jesus does not tell the story of a perfect dinner 
party, but rather a busted banquet."  

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